Of Course we are Stuck in a Videogame
by OCfan11
Summary: Do you want action? Do you want adventure? Or maybe romance and intrigue is more your style. In R.W.B.Y. Colonization, you work towards keeping humanity alive; whether by co-existing or taking over, the playstyle is up to you. Will you keep the peace? Fight the creatures of Grimm? Conquer land? Conquer hearts? (Cole only got the game because of its virtual reality.)
1. Sorry for the inconvenience

**Loading…**

 **Do you know how to open the menu? There's a tutorial tab somewhere in the menu that vaguely explains the previous things you've learned. Things like opening the menu.**

* * *

" _Who's there?!" Green shouts, jumping to his feet. He carefully walks around the burning campfire, taking out the starter knife and holding it awkwardly in front of him. The bush rustles again and he squares himself. "I know someone's there! Come out already!"_

 _There is a heartbeat of silence, and then a small bunny-eared girl stumbles out of the bushes. She falls to her hands, and stares up at the man with wide, watering eyes._

" _Oh," Green sighs in relief and sheaths the knife. "Gees, kid. Don't hide like that. I thought you were a Grimm or something coming to eat me."_

 _The girl shakes and hesitantly gets to her feet. She uses her long ears to hide her face and flinches back when he moves._

" _Kid?" Green pauses and moves slower. "Hey, are you alri-"_

"No!" the group crowded around the laptop shout their frustration. One woman slams her head on the desk with a groan, which is echoed by the others when the so-called experienced gamer gets killed by the bandit tribe the little decoy-girl is part of.

" _What even_ was _that?! I thought I was still in the tutorial!"_

"Has _anyone_ beaten that tutorial?" Jemma asks, lifting her head and rubbing the pain away.

"No," Terry moans, lolling his head back and muting the live feed. "The last person who came close died because the little girl attacks when the bandits start losing."

"I seriously hope I don't get that," Cole buries his face in his arms. Austin pats his back, but there's no comfort.

"The chances are so slim," Greg waves off the man's plight. "I've restarted dozens of times, but I've never had it."

"I had it once," Gina makes a face and swivels the chair around in a circle. "It was awful. I think I got a time of three minutes before they took me down."

The others wince; because dying in-game isn't exactly _fun_. Though, it usually turns frustrating after so many failed attempts. It's a good thing the tutorials are random, or else no one would make it.

"Do you think there's a better or worse chance to get that tutorial battle if you play intense mode?" Austin hums, pushing Cole down to reach the laptop. The dark haired man grunts his displeasure but allows it.

"Neither," Terry says at the same time Gina answers "Worse."

"The attack has to happen in a forest," Gina explains. "Atlas doesn't have any forests immediately around it. You'd have to survive a trek through the snow, and it's known the tutorial fights don't discriminate."

"Oh my gosh guys look!" Jemma shoos Austin out of the way and brings up whatever is also on her phone. Cole shakes off the other man to see what the big deal is. "Can you believe this?"

"Whoa," Terry's jaw drops in awe.

"Is that fake?" Gina asks, narrowing her eyes at the blurb of text. "That's got to be fake."

"I don't think it's fake," Greg says, taking over his laptop going back to the video of Green [Greentings321!]. He rewinds it back to the desired time and plays. The in-game comment pops up, and there are displeased noises from everyone.

"Who is [FrozenPond23] and how did they get to date my bae?" Terry growls with an angry, mocking tone.

"Apparently that's their bae now," Jemma snickers at the glare she's thrown.

"It's interesting that Weiss is the first from the R.W.B.Y. four to start dating," Gina mutters.

"She is the most public of them," Austin tries to reason while Jemma teases Terry in the background. "But I know what you mean. After Jaune's on-off relationships, I always assumed Ruby would be the first one."

"Why won't she love me?!" Terry cries with fake tears.

"Are you going to try for someone?" Jemma turns and asks Cole. "I know you've got the whole," she waves up and down, "grind through a never-ending tutorial thing in mind, but when you're allowed to meet the other colonies?"

"Well," Cole crosses his arms with a small smirk. "I can tell you I'm not aiming to visit Patch anytime soon."

"Aw," Austin whines, nudging his friend with his foot. "How come?"

"Everyone and their dog aims for that colony," the young man drawls, shifting out of kicking range. "I'm actually going to see if there's anything left to loot in Beacon."

"It's been three years since the game started," Greg drawls. "If there's anything left in Beacon, it'll be guarded by the worst of the Grimm."

Cole shrugs and snatches his backpack. He searches for some food, nodding to the others. "Let's see if Zen [FrozenPond23] has any tips or challenges for Weiss' heart."

They leap back onto the computer with a vicious hunger for knowledge.

* * *

 **Loading…**

 **Version 5.0.14 brings new characters, colonies, quests, and lore to the game. It has also deleted some side characters, colonies, quests, landmarks, loot drops, and lore. Restart your game if the achievement functionality causes problems because you were unable to obtain the deleted content before it was axed.**

* * *

[CoalbaltBluexx1] sending friend requests to: [TerrainMaster007], [xJemstoneWitchx], [AzureSeeWhatYouDidThere], [DarkOverlord99], and [PaintingTheRainbow].

Requests accepted.

Changing gamer tags to friend-monitored names.

Ter: How long did it take you to create your character?

Cole: Too long.

Jem: But the real question, did you choose Faunus?

Cole: No way. First time playing and not near ready enough for that level of social difficulty.

GinTheRainbow: I hear it's not so bad in Vale.

Aus: It isn't bad. Sure you don't want claws?

Cole: The tutorial tree I cut fell and killed me.

Cole: I am not ready for that kind of responsibility.

GinTheRainbow: O-O

Jem: HAHAHAHAHA

Gory: Seriously?

Cole: Yah

Aus: Dude, no.

Ter: I am so disappointed.

Jem: Please tell me you got it on tape.

Cole: Camera still rolling. I'll show you my n00bness later.

Jem: Please. Do.

Jem: Good luck surviving the tutorial fight.

GinTheRainbow: Make some NPC friends or something. They'll protect you from trees.

Cole: Haven't seen any and I've been walking for ages? Where are all the people?!

Ter: They'll come after your tutorial fight. Usually.

Gory: Ter, a little help please.

Ter: Be right there. Good luck not dying again.

Jem: Another four levels and you can join our team. Once you're out of the tutorial.

GinTheRainbow: Keep us updated.

* * *

 **Loading…**

 **To save the game, find a safe place out of eyesight of other characters and sit down. To save and exit, go to bed alone or shout out "EMERGENCY: CONTROL ALT DELETE".**

* * *

Cole: Got to level five. Still in the tutorial. Still looking for a fight.

Gory: What?

Ter: Dude what?

Jem: How?

Aus: It's been hours, why haven't you left?

Cole: Nothing's come to fight me and I haven't heard a single person.

Cole: Plus side I'm almost halfway to max on nine skills (lumberjack, miner, axe, pickaxe, knife, observation, intimidation, bargaining, and sweet talking)

Cole: Minus side I can't play with the settings to turn off profanity filter or change the background music.

GinTheRainbow: What did I miss?

GinTheRainbow: … Dude why?

Aus: Seriously, man, why did you not contact us before?

Ter: More importantly, how did you level up speech skills with no one else around?

Cole: Tutorial voice counts as a person? I guess?

Cole: I didn't realize how much time had passed until I looked to see camera footage. And I can't save until after the tutorial fight so I started shouting at everything I could because someone get me out of here.

Jem: I'm back with an idea.

Cole: Let's hear it.

Jem: Make a campfire. With fire dust.

Cole: I tried that ages ago.

Cole: My crafting skill wouldn't let the fire take.

Jem: Keep trying.

Jem: Then sit at the fire.

Jem: Then fight whatever jumps out of a bush.

Cole: I don't want to die via bandits.

Jem: There is a less than 5% chance of finding bandits.

Aus: Might be your only choice.

Gory: The night is coming.

GinTheRainbow: The fire burns low.

Jem: That, and it's been three hours. Do your parents not worry?

Cole: * _message deleted because of profanity_ *

Cole: I knew I was forgetting something.

Cole: They went out for dinner and sibs are at a friend's b-day party so I'm good for another half hour.

Cole: Right, okay, I'll let you know if I survive.

Cole: If not, I blame Jem for everything.

Jem: Love you too. Now go flirt with Grimm, sweet talker.

Aus: Do you have to do that?

Jem: I'm safe in Vacuo. I get to irritate all ya'lls all I want.

* * *

 **Loading…**

 **Difficulty settings are not the only things determined by race and location. Some characters will have biological preferences that make them hate your character model. Keeping the warnings setting enabled will alert you to who would not take kindly to a random chat. If you do not heed the warning, it is likely you will be insulted.**

* * *

It doesn't take long for the forest around him to grow dark, a side effect of lighting a dust-fire campfire in the middle of the woods. The shadows draw around to hide a person from the Grimm's sights. That and the Grimm don't like fire. A campfire is also a beacon to those NPCs being chased by Grimm, letting them know someone will protect them. And it's a beacon to bandits. And other things that would love to try and kill him.

Cole is not impressed.

"I should put it out," the young man mutters, leveling up his weapons care skill by sharpening the dull starter knife. Too many stabs at trees. And rocks. And dirt. "If I keep walking, then maybe there'll be someone else who needs help."

He spends the next minutes muttering. Finally finished, he sheaths the weapon with a sigh and gets up to put the dust fire out. Cole almost calls out for the menu when the bush opposite him rustles. He eases out the knife again, carefully positioning to seem not as threatening. "Hello?"

There is a long stretch of silence, yet he doesn't move. Whoever it is, they are out waited, and the man is rewarded with a bunny-eared Faunus tumbling from the bushes.

"S**t," Cole curses because f**k, Jemma, he knew this was going to happen. Cole lunges for the little girl, grabs her middle – ignoring her too loud squeak – and rolls off to the side. His anger notches up when the bushes explode as the bandits give up hiding. He feels _intimidation_ kick in as he squares his shoulders, snapping at the little girl over his shoulder. "Stay there!"

The girl squeaks in fear and cowers. He would have felt confused, because she normally smiles as the bandits attack but he's a little busy trying to follow the instructions on how to stab people while also not getting hit.

 **Skill Learned: Parry**

 **Skill Learned: Sequence Attacking**

 **Skills Sets Learned: Basic Knife Attacks, Basic Fist Fighting, Basic Axe Attacks, Basic Pickaxe Attacks**

Cole curses again and does as the tutorial demands, using the different weapons to kill different bandits. When the ranks start to thin, he catches a glimpse of the Faunus girl preparing to interfere. At just how utterly unfair this whole thing is, he snarls with _intimidation_ again, "Stay. Put."

Amazingly, the girl cowers and starts silently crying. Now he feels slightly bad. Then he's back to fighting and doesn't actually care.

There is a reason why this is an absolutely terrible tutorial fight no one has beaten. It could be said that, when starting, a person has no chance because of their stamina metering always running low. That's usually the case for those who restart the game, as they do not have all the skills and strengths they are used to having. For those who are brand new, they fail because they aren't used to the controls and don't have enough healing items to keep alive. The bandit tutorial is the worst of the twelve possible tutorial fights because it requires people with no previous character skills to dodge and parry attacks at a near-endless rate, without tiring them out.

Cole is surprisingly pleased when he defeats wave three. He accounts this to his time spent dodging trees and stabbing things when he didn't want to use the proper tools. Then again, he has a lot of progress to lose if he dies in this. Three hours of gathering supplies in the tutorial forest and rock outposts will all go to waste unless he saves soon.

A dark chuckle echoes through the area. Cole sees the little girl curled up, crying against a tree base, and that sound definitely didn't come from her. He keeps twisting around, trying to see through the dark ring, when the throaty figure steps into the light.

"I didn't expect to see a huntsman out here," says the man with sharp, canine teeth and a crazed look in his eyes. Cole doesn't correct that he isn't a huntsman. The bandit bows awkwardly and tilts his head towards the little girl. "May I gather my last alive member, and never bother you again, sir?"

The girl squeaks, tucking further into a ball. While Cole knows she's part of the bandit group, that reaction to the apparent bandit leader does not bode well. The simple _Let Them Leave/Don't Let Them_ _Leave_ choices hover in front of his view. He looks up at the apparent leader and shakes his head, stepping towards the _Don't Let Them Leave_ for good measure.

"What a shame," the bandit hisses, face twisting into a sneer. "Then I guess you'll have to die."

A tutorial prompt pops up, along with a skill he accidently acquired hours ago. Cole keeps his eyes on the man. The bandit goes to lunge just as the gamer draws the knife back. The bandit screams his crazed rage, and Cole throws.

 **Knife Thrower Level Up!**

The bandit leader, like his fellows, dissolves as soon as he dies. That… was actually rather anticlimactic. Now what?

The tutorial pops up and tells him to start earning his new _recruiting_ skill.

"Oh no," Cole groans and turns to the child watching him with wide, terrified NPC eyes. He actually gets a pity hint from the tutorial, telling him to speak softer with the kid. The man bites his tongue and slowly inches his way forwards. When he's within game-acceptable talking distance, he gets down and crosses his legs. The girl keeps looking unblinkingly at him, stiff with fear. "Hi."

The girl squeaks and cowers.

Another pity hint pops up into his view. He sighs, not knowing how it would help in the delicate situation, but he goes for blunt truth like it says. "Your group is dead. You have nowhere to go, and no one to count on." He blinks, hands shaking. She flinches back, but looks to be seeing him instead seeing through him. "I'm going to start a colony. Do you want to join?"

She hesitantly starts playing with an ear. After a long second, she nods.

"Alright," Cole sighs and shifts to his knees. He gets a couple alerts saying he has a new team member and- an achievement blocks the second and third messages. _Starting a Family Achievement_? The heck- oh. Oh. New teammate and new _daughter_. Well. S**t.

"It says you're hungry," Cole says instead, trying not to focus on the – _surprise, it's a girl_ –sudden adoption of a tutorial NPC. "I've got some berries, if you want."

She nods her head, pushing back her ears and scrambling up with desperate eyes. He gives her the basic berries found everywhere in the forest, only stopping when the symbol next to her status disappears. She whines a little, but he has to refuse. "You'll be sick if you eat anymore."

The girl pouts, and Cole takes the moment to take in all her information. Level one, nothing special about her base six stats, but she has a good grasp on fist fighting skills and has almost maxed out _fake tears_. Her Faunus trait also makes her very good at listening, and she has great night vision.

"Bonbon," Cole says, reading her name off the tag. The girl stiffens when he holds out a hand, but doesn't back up. "My name is Cole. Would you agree to me carrying you to our objective, or would you rather walk?"

She slowly unfurls and reaches out hand in a universal pick-me-up motion. Cole obliges, holding her to his chest and letting her settle before beginning the trek. There are a few locations for colony start-ups in the area, but he wants the one an hour's walk from a well-known, side quest abound lake.

Cole sighs and brings up the camera. He's got fifteen minutes until his parents will be home. With the girl falling asleep on his shoulder, and Grimm not being a problem until he finishes the tutorial, he's going to run for it. The man assures the NPC girl it's alright, and then takes off sprinting.

His _running_ skill levels up again.

* * *

 **Loading…**

 **Skill Talk: Caregiver**

 **Now that you have a kid or five, it's time to start being a loving parent. Or maybe you want to show your love through long distance gift-giving. As long as you're putting some care into your child's well-being, you gain experience here. The more a child likes you, the more likely they are to listen, and the more likely you are to impress your hopes and dreams upon their young, NPC minds. But seriously, take good care of the kids. The Admins are watching.**

* * *

Cole: I blame you for everything, Jemma.

Aus: What happened?

GinTheRainbow: Cole?

Aus: Are you still there?

Cole: Yes.

Ter: So, what happened?

Cole: I'm waiting for Jemma.

Gory: Have you finally beat the tutorial?

Cole: Not yet.

Ter: DUDE!

Cole: Almost at a Colony Tear, so it will finally be over. Messaging while running isn't easy.

Jem: I'm on, what's up.

Cole: I blame you. For. Everything.

Jem: ?

Cole: I got the bandit tutorial.

Ter: DUDE SERIOUSLY?!

Aus: What.

Gory: Ouch. How long did you last?

Aus: The.

GinTheRainbow: My condolences.

Aus: Hay.

Jem: Ouch. You alright there? Sorry for jinxing it.

Cole: I'm better now. And I lasted the whole thing.

GinTheRainbow: Wait, what?

Jem: FOR REAL?!

Jem: DUDE! NO LIE?

Ter: COLE!

Gory: I don't believe you. You died to a tree earlier.

Aus: *Impressed eyebrow raised*

Cole: No lie. Got the video to prove it.

Ter: HOLY CRACKERS WE ARE GOING TO HIT TOP VIEWS TOMORROW!

Jem: Congrats, man. Can't wait to see it!

GinTheRainbow: Oh my goodness! How am I supposed to edit this?

Cole: We'll work on it tomorrow.

Cole: I did a ton of grinding for ages, so please fill in the others stuff there. And I'll help, of course

GinTheRainbow: Understood ;)

Aus: Yah, we're not abandoning jobs just because we all have the game now.

Ter: Guys. Guys for real. We are going to make some actual money with this.

Gory: And spend it all on uni.

Ter: Quiet Mr. Negativity.

Cole: I see the tear in space-time, so I'm dropping out again.

Jem: Got it. Don't get killed.

Cole: I've got a daughter to protect now, no way am I dying.

Aus: What?

Ter: Dude, what?

Jem: Cole? You jerk, get back here; you can't just drop a bomb like that and leave!

GinTheRainbow: That little Faunus girl wouldn't be the recruit-able tutorial NPC, would it?

Gory: It better not be.

Ter: I don't want to feral backstabber to kill Cole off early, because we know that's absolutely going to happen if he's got her

GinTheRainbow: Maybe it's some other girl

Jem: I'm a goin' to logout and check to see if anyone knows from data mining. Peace out.

* * *

 **Loading…**

 **Colonization is in the name of the game. Once you've chosen a tear in the videogame's reality to make home base, you'll be given the option to start making a town or to go your own way as a freelance ranger. Or maybe you'll join a friend's colony. There are perks to all options, and there is always time to choose a different playstyle.**

* * *

Cole almost groans as he selects the house he wishes to build. It is literally the best he can get without going for the mansions. Most of his wood and material stones disappear from his inventory, and he's given the option on where to place the new house.

He chooses middle of the town large, grassy field, because why not? Bonbon watches with wide eyes, clinging to his pants. Like magic, the house appears in its full, two story glory. He smiles at the shocked girl, lightly grabbing her hand. "Shall we?"

The five years old latches onto his hand with both of hers, following along with a skip in her step. She gasps at the wide, basic-furbished building, rushing further in to see everything.

"Careful," Cole calls with a smug smile, feeling a little better about splurging for the home. The girl runs circles around the first floor before following him up to see the rooms. His heart pinches when she takes the room across from his, stealing a few blankets and taking them to her room without a word. He keeps careful watch as she makes a nest on the floor. Once settled, she stares up expectantly. "Do you want me to tuck you in?"

Bonbon nod, grabbing at her ears and pulling them over her face. He chuckles and sits beside the nest of blankets, waiting until she's snuggled her way under the folds. Then he brings up the thickest cover, tucking it in and lightly patting her head.

He has no idea what he's doing.

Never would Cole have imagined having a family in-game. He's not in it for the romance or life experiences. There is no manual for this besides the extremely intimidating _caregiver_ skill meaning. There isn't any time to look after the Faunus girl, because the game isn't real life. Real life is university and editing videos so they all make some money. Real life is not fighting monsters. What's hard, especially when looking at the _very_ real expressions of a girl with bunny ears, is remembering that Cole doesn't owe this world anything. It is a game.

Real life is not.

"I'll be back late tomorrow," Cole tells her. The girl looks panicked for a split second, shivering and glancing away even as he tries to explain. "There will be food in the fridge, but I just can't be here in the morning. We'll figure something else out tomorrow, when I have more time."

She turns away from him, frowning. Cole pulls another blanket on her and gets up. He is really not prepared for this. "Goodnight, Bonbon."

He's at the door when he hears a soft, "Goodnight."

Cole does as he said he would, filling the fridge with berries and one health potion. Then, because he's finally out of the tutorial, he sends a membership request to Greg. The others complain via messenger that it's about time. Team roster updates with the first letter of his gamer tag added to the team name because he is a colony leader. Team DAC (Daisy).

It feels better than he thought, now that he's their partner in the game too. Like a missing piece fitting in.

He goes to his own bed with a smile, lies down, and lets the system dissolve his digital body.

* * *

 **Game Saved!**

 **Exiting in 3… 2… 1-**

* * *

"Booyah!"

Cole walks back into Greg's living room with his hot chocolate, stumbling as Jemma gives a friendly smack to his shoulder. It's nine o'clock the morning the next day, Saturday, and is _much_ too early for this excitement. Austin is halfway to falling back to sleep in the rocking chair, while the others huddle around Gina's high-end laptop.

"Look at you go!" Terry continues, sipping his coffee and leg bouncing. "Never would have thought you'd beat these guys, no offense."

Cole shrugs and sips his drink. He doesn't care, just wants to get some sleep and get it soon. No better time than when they're all discussing the video's script, so if they could get on with it…

"Sorry I doubted you," Greg says, a hint impressed.

This is something none of them expected. Sure, there was the half-hearted thought Cole might bring some good footage of what it's like going at the considered easiest mode; a human in Vale. Austin was their only player in that territory, so new footage of that could have enticed some more viewers. What they were hoping for was some of Cole's game failure footage; and easy laugh at the newbie. The tree killing him as he attempts to level his dodging is definitely going to be in the queue, but an accomplishment like he managed to pull off will really get them an audience.

And the money, as Terry points out once again.

"Here," Gina hands the other editor a USB stick. "I need you to sequence the first three together, and the next three together."

"You got it," Cole answers with a sigh, sitting beside her and opening his own laptop. No rest for the sleepy it seems. "I'm probably going to go back in tonight. Do you want me to send you the footage afterwards?"

"Sure," Jemma replies, nudging Austin awake. "Just don't do too much, alright? We'll see how the comments go after this episode, and then try to build you up from there."

Cole yawns and nods.

"Your new daughter is adorable," Gina smiles and nudges him. She shows him a picture of Bonbon smiling in awe in the entrance to her new home.

"I'm putting that online as soon as we get the video up," Jemma throws out.

"Right," Terry snaps his fingers and starts looking through the group's shared photo album. "We'll need to have some screenshots to release."

"And that's my cue to get started on breakfast," Greg groans as he gets up. "Hope you guys like pancakes and fruit."

"You're awesome, Greg," Austin throws up his thumbs.

It takes hours before the script is agreed upon, and the two editors spend even longer mixing and matching videos. Cole puts his foot down on them insisting he make an appearance; it's not the first time they've tried and he and Gina always refuse. The black haired editor waves for the others to film while she deals with finishing the collage of their in-game character progress. Cole works behind the camera while the four all say their parts, and then hands the recordings to Gina.

It's been like this for over a year. Terry was the one who brought them all together, doing this as a video assignment for class they shared. The goal was to make a video that got a large online audience. Gregory was the only one who had played the R.W.B.Y. Colonization game before, and suggested they use video footage from that since the newest version had recently come out.

It turned out to be a great idea. The video, showcasing new updates in Atlas, got more views than they thought it would, and they got an A on the assignment; though to this day Austin and Greg are sore about missing an A+ by a few percent.

Strangely enough, the video had a lot of comments requesting a second one. After a month, Austin started a colony in Vale. The footage from both guys proved to be a hit, and the group got a couple dollars when they enabled short ads. That started once-a-month videos for the next few months, until the attack on Gregory's camp happened.

After the attack, Terry decided to get the game and join Greg's Atlas colony, for support because Atlas is the hardest territory to play in, but mainly because he thought someone should try to date a main character. Somehow, most of them still aren't sure how, Terry got people rooting for him to woo Weiss. Ice Queen lives up to her nickname, though. The comments on their last video, since yesterday when gamer tag [FrozenPond23] officially got to start dating Weiss, have people shouting the unfairness and trying to encourage him to not give up. Terry, for this video, assures his fans he won't.

Jemma jumped on board and got the game soon after Terry. She is now a well-known freelancer in Vacuo. The audience loves the crazy way she acts, with her never really staying morally good in order to play up a witch feel. This is when their once-a-month videos turned into once-a-week. With four people, there was now always enough video footage in between exams and midterms and jobs.

Gina chose to get the game about a month ago. After testing every territory, she decided to go freelancing in Mistral. It started out trying to learn healing, for the softer fan base, and ended up with her becoming an apprentice poisons mistress. And then she met the leader of one of Mistral's biggest colonies, Sun. The exasperated woman then unlocked his dating route; no one is sure how she did that. Their audience is split between those who want Gina to go for it, and those who want her to run because he's currently looking to capture the woman Gina is apprenticing under. The black haired woman is not impressed by all the attention on her in-game character.

Cole caved and bought the game because he needs something to cheer him up. He needs something to take his mind away from the long hours of school and let him live in a fantasy world just for a little bit. It probably isn't healthy to play the game for these reasons, but he needs something that isn't here. A virtual reality offers that escape.

So, camera set to record and no one to bother him Saturday night, Cole takes a deep breath and lays down on the fold out chair. He puts the virtual helmet and goggles on, fingers going into proper divots, and activates the game, fully intending to take it easy tonight.

* * *

 **Loading…**

 **Remember, the game is nothing like the television show. For every mention of the television show to a NPC, you will lose friendship points and likely weird them out. It's better to pretend nothing in this game has to do with the show.**

* * *

"Can I go in the houses?" Bonbon asks quietly.

"Go wild, kid," Cole tells her. She flashes a smile and runs off.

The man sighs and goes through the basic building designs he was gifted from the tutorial. He's practically destroying his stock of wood and stone by building houses, but he needs a certain amount of available living space before he can build other things. Things like a blacksmith, which needs less people in a town than a grocery does. And a school needs the most. Five empty houses around his own, which offers a minimum of one occupant per house, means he has the baseline of five needed for the freshly built smithy he drops a few feet over.

"What's that?" Bonbon asks excitedly.

"A place where weapons and kitchen utensils can be made," Cole replies. "If we had a blacksmith, I mean."

"Oh," she tilts her head curiously. Then she looks up at him. "Can we find one?"

"We can look." Cole holds out a hand, and she slips hers in his. "We probably won't have much luck. We're kind of in the middle of nowhere." He slips them out of the tear. "But that doesn't mean you can run off. It's going to be dangerous, and I want you to stay behind me if we find any trouble."

"Okay, papa," Bonbon replies easily, not noticing his twitch. "I can lead you Ms. Mikana."

"Oh?" Cole asks hesitantly, a quest popping into his view. "Would Ms. Mikana happen to be a blacksmith?"

"She made weapons for the bandits," the little girl says, confused. "So, so that's a yes, yes?"

"That's a yes," he smiles down. She beams up at him. "Alright," he accepts the quest. "Let's go meet Ms. Mikana."

Bonbon cheers up immensely, practically dragging him in her rush. He has to fight off some Grimm, twice, but compared to the bandits they are a breeze to deal with. The girl leads him to a small, rock outpost that looks like it's seen better days. From the cave on the other side comes a black woman with white fox ears twitching at their every footstep. Bonbon releases his hand to wave, "Ms. Mikana!"

"Kid," the woman greets, narrowing her eyes suspiciously at Cole. He can't blame her, his hand hasn't let go on the knife hilt since they spotted her. "What are you doing here?"

"Papa fought off all the tribe members!" Bonbon says, looking at the man in awe. Cole gives her a small smile, which she takes to mean run to the other Faunus. Cole misses grabbing her, and only halts from sprinting after the girl by the large sword the fox-eared Faunus has drawn and pointed towards him. "And he's looking for a weapon's maker and I told him you did it for the tribes!"

"I need a blacksmith," Cole enunciates as the woman only gets tenser. "I'm starting a colony and need people." That's really all there is too it.

The woman falters, lowering her sword. She brushes her long white hair back, avoiding his gaze and frowning. The _recruitment_ prompts appear, giving him options. A lot of options. Waiting is out, he doesn't have anything to bargain with, and threatening may be a touch too much. Cole sighs and ignores the flirt option, just deciding to ask her again. "Would you like to join my colony?"

"Do you really want my help?" She sneers a little, threading her fingers through Bonbon's short hair to keep calm. "Or are you just that desperate?"

"If you don't want to come, I won't force you," Cole answers with the _honesty_ prompt. He does have morals that won't be crossed, game or not. Kidnapping, and then torture, is something he knows happens in-game, but he won't resort to that if it can be helped.

The woman NPC shifts and sheaths her weapon at the admission, but still can't look at him. "It wasn't just the kid's tribe I make weapons for. There are others out there. If I try to run, they'll hunt me down."

"Then I'll keep them from coming after you," Cole says assuredly. With the Friendly Tears setting on, there's no need worry about an attack from them.

Ms. Mikana scoffs and side glares him. "Whole bandit tribes?"

"Yes."

The woman falters and turns to look. The expression on her face says how much she wants to hope this isn't a trick.

Cole blinks at the options he has and uses the _entice_ sentence. "You won't have to pay taxes."

"Deal," Ms. Mikana says in an instance. Cole blinks as his skills increase, and then takes the woman's outstretched hand. He almost groans at the influx of information about the woman, and tries to sort through it quickly in order to continue the next part of the quest. "The name's Spade Mikana."

"Cole."

"Well, Cole," Spade takes a deep breath and backs up, glancing into the cave. "If you can break the chain keeping me here, I'd be happy to follow you."

Cole glances over at the woman before he goes into the cave. The ward isn't hard to miss, but the diamond chain is. He has to use observe to see it in full. It leads from the pike under the wall's drawing, and goes all the way to Spade's foot. "That's why you're in this cave?"

"Couldn't leave if I wanted too," Spade says sourly. "Been here for a long time. The tribes bring me food and water when they come, since I obviously can't go out to get my own. I don't make them tools, I starve. Simple as that."

Cole frowns as he starts following the prompts. The new skill, _ward breaking_ , is simple enough to follow with the level his aura is at now. The mini game is over quick and the drawing turns to dust on the wall, falling away.

"That should do it," Cole starts, brushing off the dirt and standing. He's cut off by the body jumping him. "What-"

"Thank you," Spade breathes, hugging him tightly. " _Thank you_."

"It's no problem," Cole goes with the basic option because _what_? The woman is crying on him and he's really uncomfortable right now.

Spade catches her breath and leans back, wiping her eyes. "Thanks. Never thought I'd be free again."

 _Ah_. "Happy to help then, Ms. Mikana."

Bonbon giggles at the little bow he does. The woman blushes slightly and turns her back to him. "It's just Spade, alright boss?"

"Oh," Cole shudders. He really hopes that won't catch on. "Just Cole, no boss."

"Whatever," she smiles over her shoulder. "Now, you ready to show me this colony of yours?"

"Sure." The man picks up Bonbon, much to the girl's delight. He gets a thought as they head back. "Hey, Spade?"

"Yah?"

He sees the prompt questions and smirks a little. Apparently the game agrees with his thoughts. "What do you think about babysitting?"

The woman raises an eyebrow. "Not particularly fond of kids. Why?"

"I need someone to watch Bonbon while I'm away," Cole explains. He uses an _entice_ option. "I'll pay you."

"Seven hundred lien an hour," Spade barks out with a smirk.

"Deal," Cole says, knowing he can make up that money with a few Grimm purging sessions. Right after the new resident gets settled. He'll probably need to make a requests board, now that he _has_ an actual citizen.

There's a subtle shift in Spade the moment she realizes the colony is in a tear. Something in her eases, like a weight gone. Now she doesn't have to worry about people getting in uninvited. It makes her look more real, and Cole finally admits he's going to fall into the trap of thinking NPCs are people.

"Which house is going to be mine?" Spade brings his attention to the couple of empty houses.

"Want to be neighbors?" Cole throws her a look. She barks out a laugh and he smiles. "The one over there is across from the smithy."

"Alright," Spade nods, going to the smith-neighboring house. She stops and assesses it, finding it to her liking. "This one?"

"Yes."

Spade pauses to catch the keys that appear above her hands. She unlocks the door without question, browsing the insides. "Nicer than the cave." Cole barks a laugh he covers with a cough. She throws a smile and a wink at him. "Thanks, Cole."

He waves as she shuts the door. Bonbon wiggles to get set down, racing towards the woman's house. Cole sighs and follows. He really doesn't have anything to do but grind for materials now that the quest is complete. That, and try to find strangers willing to uproot their NPC lifestyles to live here. Cole stands behind his in-game daughter and knocks.

"What can I do for you?" Spade answers with a tiny smile.

"Are you alright looking after Bonbon for the day?" he asks from the list of prompts. When she agrees, he goes for the maximum number; twenty-four hours of care for the girl, cutting down a large chunk of his pocket money. Still, it's worth it when Bonbon hugs him and runs inside, Spade promising to look after her. His c _aregiver_ skill also seems to deem that worthy and gives a bunch of experience points.

Cole pulls up his messenger to chat with whoever's on. He _builds_ together a request billboard really quick, not wanting to miss out on any opportunities that one of his two residents may throw at him. No expectation for quests coming from them soon, though. Normal time for resident quests to start is forty-eight hours after they move in.

Cole hops out the tear and starts the trek towards the lake.

* * *

 **Loading…**

 **A colony run by a gamer will be inside a tear, while those run by NPCs are not.**

* * *

Cole misses having a knife. It's his own fault for following the prompt yesterday and throwing it. He could have ignored it. But of course the villain died with one hit, taking Cole's knife and his own extra gear with him. As of now, the man has just been swinging an axe around, chopping a few trees and killing Grimm when he finds them.

After the first sighting of some rude gamers who wanted to pick on his low level a*s, Cole turned on the Lonely Road setting. It's weird seeing NPCs stopped in the middle of the road, gazing at no one and knowing they're talking to a gamer he can't see. And it's frustrating when the Grimm he battles dies to some unknown opponent. The level five gamer won't turn off the setting, though. It's like the profanity setting, with its vaguely threatening message which popped up and convinced him not to turn it off.

Cole stumbles over a branch just as he reaches the shore of the lake. He catches himself easily, and then walks to the sand. Almost halfway across the water is a small island with a rock formation sticking out of it. Lapis Cave, one of the nicknamed infinity dungeons, lies at the heart of the island. The only way there is by crossing the smaller land masses from the other side of the lake. Every gamer residing in Vale does a quest in the cave at least once. It's easy because there are so many items to grab, and that means multiple quests at all times. One of their online video blogging friends did around thirty quests in one go; the highest recorded quests gathered for Lapis Cave with one gamer. Another friend managed to find a crystal woman and recruit her to his colony.

Cole would probably need half a day just to get there and back to his colony.

"Oh." The man starts at the soft voice behind him. He blinks over his shoulder, unsure why the NPC woman is talking to him. "I'm on the other side of the lake."

"Are you trying to get to the cave?" he asks the obvious question. Cole freezes when he faces her fully.

It's a good thing she talks, because he doesn't know what to do. The young woman smiles sheepishly and scratches her head. "Yah… That is Lapis Cave, right? I didn't end up near Streak Cavern?"

He's given a list of prompts, and has to carefully choose the one he wants. This is a too-big moment, and Jemma might actually murder him after she sees the video. He feels the pain Gina did when she first met Sun. This is a big moment for an experienced player, and an awkward one for casuals. "You made it. Lapis Cave's entrance is between the highest rock and most jagged one."

"That's a relief," Ruby relaxes, stretching out her arms with a low groan. "I've been walking for ages! The Apple Forest had me all turned around and I thought I'd never make it!"

Cole chuckles, trying not to look awkward. Main characters can smell fear. "I'm sorry you didn't end up on the right side, though."

"Don't be sorry," Ruby admonishes, skipping up to him. She's about a head shorter, and much daintier than her television counterpart, but he's seen multiple compilations of videogame-Ruby in action. She's one of the hardiest colony leaders in Vale. "I just have to walk a bit more, and I got to meet you! Oh, I'm Ruby, by the way. Ruby Rose."

"Cole," he nods in return with a genial smile. Its official, Jemma is going to slaughter him. And Terry will probably tell him to make the game his whole life if this is how much excitement is going to happen in a couple hours of play. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Rose."

"Oh," she wrinkles her nose adorably. "Just Ruby, please. I get enough people calling me Ms. Rose as it is."

Cole chuckles for real this time. "Colony leader, then?" She nods. "I just got my first worker today, and she called me boss." He shudders.

"Right though?!" Ruby throws her hands up, exasperated. "I don't want to be addressed so- so formally like that! My sister teases me all the time about it!" She hangs her head defeated and he pats her shoulder. Then she springs up, turning and pointing at him. "You're a new colony leader! We should be friends!"

"Really?" he asks, tilting his head. "Are you sure?"

"Of course," Ruby pats herself. She makes a squeal of joy and pulls out a scroll. "You're nice and didn't tease me for getting lost. Add yourself."

"Alright," Cole says slowly, taking the device. A prompt appears in his view, and he confirms he wants to be friends with the slightly younger woman. The title above Ruby's head changes from [Red Hood] to her name.

"Yes," Ruby fist pumps and turns her head away, hissing lowly, "take that, Yang. I can totally make friends."

"Will you be alright getting to the island?" Cole asks, glancing towards the water. "The serpent Grimm should be asleep at this time, but I'd stay out of the water regardless."

"Crescent Rose and I will be good," Ruby smirks and pulls out her gun/scythe, stroking it. "Have a good night, Cole! Message me if you ever get to Patch!"

"I will!" Cole calls after her retreating form. "Good luck with your cave hunting!"

"Thanks!" The woman waves once more, and then rushes off in a flurry of rose petals.

"Huh," Cole stares down at the aura petals, interested. They slowly fade form existence with no life to hold them together. The one he grabs feels like velvet, disintegrating slower against his fingers. "I always wondered about these."

An artificial wind blows the rest into particles, fading away. Cole sees sand kick up, and covers his face after something large and invisible falls in front of him. Once the sand's out of his eyes, the hurrying footsteps of gamers he can't see are fading from the ground.

"Good luck, Ruby," Cole mutters, turning around and heading for the forest line. Time to start hurrying back; at least _some_ of his assignments need to be done tonight. The game world isn't reality, no matter how much he'd like to stay here a bit longer.

Poor NPC Ruby with the game as her reality. Cole vaguely knows her backstory, with how she had to suddenly take over the colony her missing father controlled. Yang managed to get a trade contract with the Schnee Dust Company merchants, run by Weiss, as well as a promise the White Fang stays away from Patch because of her friendship with Blake. Team RWBY, under Ruby's colony lead. Which means everyone – gamer or colony NPC – aims to be Ruby's friend. Some go as far as stalking her when she runs quests and requests for her colony, just for the chance to talk.

And she came up to him.

* * *

 **Loading…**

 **Setting Talk:** **Friendly Tears**

 **Tears are the rips in reality that hold many colonies. With this setting on, only your friends, family, teammates, and citizens may have access to your tear. Turning this off allows for other gamers, merchants, and NPCs access to your tear. Turning this off also allows Grimm, predators, and other unfriendly things into your colony.**

* * *

Jemma Saurten – 11:58 pm: I can't believe you.

Sunday, September 14th, 2042

Jemma Saurten – 12:07 am: I thought it was great at first. Bonbon's a new NPC, so of course she'd lead you to other new NPCs. People will probably love Spade. It's not often there's a blacksmith woman, never mind a Faunus blacksmith.

Jemma Saurten – 12:09 am: But then you had to go and do that.

Jemma Saurten – 2:08 am: What do you have to say for yourself?

Cole Kraydo – 8:44 am: When do you find time to sleep?

Cole Kraydo – 8:46 am: And I didn't mean to meet Ruby. It just happened.

Cole Kraydo – 8:46 am: How was I supposed to know she'd be heading for the lake?

Jemma Saurten – 8:53 am: Sleep what sleep?

Jemma Saurten – 8:54 am: I know you didn't mean to, but dude. Bro. My bestest friend in the world. We post our video in just over an hour. You're going to become slightly underground famous for defeating the unbeatable tutorial.

Jemma Saurten – 8:55 am: And now we have to put in the next video that Ruby, the mainiest of main characters, initiated contact and offered you her friend information without prompting. And it looks like you were going to turn her down.

Cole Kraydo – 8:55 am: Was worried about stranger danger.

Jemma Saurten – 8:56 am: Just don't even try to justify.

Jemma Saurten – 8:56 am: My point though.

Jemma Saurten – 8:57 am: You are now friends with a main character known to never initiate contact with people who pressure her into accepting their friend requests. She came. Up. To. You.

Jemma Saurten – 8:58 am: Now, things will go one of two ways.

Jemma Saurten – 8:58 am: You'll either be pressured into trying to date her, or you'll pressured to play the game in longer intervals in order to do more magical things that have never happened to a gamer before.

Jemma Saurten – 9:00 am: Either way, you're now going to have minor fame.

Cole Kraydo – 9:01 am: I'm screwed, aren't I?

Cole Kraydo – 9:01 am: No way can this kind of luck keep happening.

Jemma Saurten – 9:02 am: Maybe not screwed.

Jemma Saurten – 9:02 am: You have two new NPCs nobody else has yet. If the public doesn't ship you – and Ruby is practically everyone's sweetheart so it's very real you may get crucified for dating her – then you can spend your time gathering Bonbon and Co.'s recommended NPCs and fighting more bandits.

Cole Kraydo – 9:04 am: More bandits?

Jemma Saurten – 9:07 am: Don't be surprised if you have to fight every tribe in Vale.

Cole Kraydo – 9:09 am: You're not serious, right?

Jemma Saurten – 9:10 am: Deadly.

Jemma Saurten – 9:10 am: Spade practically told you everyone is now out for her head. You've got a lot of work to do to keep her safe.

Cole Kraydo – 9:21 am: What if I just stop?

Jemma Saurten – 9:23 am: You wouldn't do that now, and the team probably wouldn't let you.

Cole Kraydo – 9:25 am: Would you?

Jemma Saurten – 9:25 am: I'll support whatever you choose to do.

Cole Kraydo – 9:26 am: Thanks.

Jemma Saurten – 9:27 am: Np

Jemma Saurten – 9:30 am: Thirty minutes.

Cole Kraydo – 9:31 am: Too late to edit me out now.

Jemma Saurten – 9:31 am: Haha

Jemma Saurten – 9:35 am: Terry finally answered me. He thinks it would be a great idea if I go searching for high level Grimm-destroying quests this week.

Cole Kraydo – 9:37 am: Hasn't he realized you hate those?

Jemma Saurten – 9:41 am: Apparently not.

Cole Kraydo – 9:42 am: What are you going to do instead?

Jemma Saurten – 9:45 am: Probably sneak into museum. I might try to seduce a guard for good measure. The usual.

Cole Kraydo – 9:47 am: Let me know if he keeps pressuring for it. I'll talk to him about it.

Cole Kraydo – 9:48 am: And we all know how Austin feels about wasting video time on Grimm fights.

Jemma Saurten – 9:50 am: Thanks. Hahaha, true.

Jemma Saurten – 9:50 am: Going to post soon. Let me know if anything goes wrong.

Cole Kraydo – 9:51 am: Got'cha got'cha.

* * *

 **Loading…**

 **Quests and requests are separate entities. Requests can be found on colony bulletin boards and with stationary, stressed-looking NPCs. Gamers are limited to a maximum of ninety-nine incomplete requests at a time. Quests are everything else. You can have an infinite number of quests active and incomplete, but know that they all have some sort of time limit.**

* * *

To: Adel J, Devon R, Hiroshi H, Luke G, and Mary T

From: Gina S

Subject: Watch the video ASAP

I'm sorry for interrupting your Sunday but this couldn't wait. People thought that Frozen guy getting Weiss was big news? This is bigger.

The link sends you to the time you need to watch, though I do appreciate it if you decide to watch the whole thing. A lot of work went into it.

Seriously, though. Watch what happens. Get the views if you want to do a reaction video, because you will REACT.

Your favourite rainbow, Gina

Link: (YouBetterSeeThisTutorialWin)

;;;

To: Adel J, Devon R, Gina S, Hiroshi H, and Luke G

From: Mary T

Subject: Seriously, do a reaction video

Thanks for the heads up, G.

;;;

To: Adel J, Gina S, Hiroshi H, Luke G, Mary T

From: Devon R

Subject: Why couldn't this have been me?

Thanks for the heads up, but why couldn't this have happened to me? I just did this tutorial days ago and a live win would have been great thanks.

Never mind. Just saw the whole vid. Your friend has the patience of a saint.

;;;

To: Adel J, Devon R, Gina S, Hiroshi H, and Mary T

From: Luke G

Subject: I've seen grinding but…

Never mind a saint, do you see how high he got his observe level? And this is Cole's first time playing?

Welp, I know what I'm going to do when I play tonight.

;;;

To: Gina S

From: Adel J

Subject: Am I overstepping?

What do you think about an eventual collab? I was planning to head to Vale sometime this month, but if it's a bad time let me know.

Adel

;;;

To: Gina S

From: Hiroshi H

Subject: Well that's interesting

How much do you want to bet a third of the gamers restart in hopes to beat that tutorial?

We're still meeting in the capital this week, right?

;;;

To: Adel J

From: Gina S

Subject: No you're not overstepping

I'll bring it up to the group but I don't think anyone would mind. It would definitely be fun! I'll let you know what they say.

;;;

To: Hiroshi H

From: Gina S

Subject: Yep, see you at that Mistral café

No bet, I'm sure most people are already doing it. Did you hear the server was at risk of crashing? Everyone keeps trying to get the tutorial, I'm so glad we're the ones that actually did it.

Same time as last week?

;;;

To: Gina S

From: Hiroshi H

Subject: Heard about it

The lag was awful for a while. Same time works. Be careful, Sun's bringing in Neptune to help him search the area. Wouldn't want you to start romancing him too.

;;;

To: Hiroshi H

From: Gina S

Subject: You're terrible

Ha. Ha.

You keep being this funny I'm dragging you on a quest to meet Vernal. I hear she's a very lovely, strong woman who's been capturing – I mean _acquiring_ – men for her colony.

;;;

To: Gina S

From: Hiroshi H

Subject: You wouldn't dare

Alright, I'll stop.

;;;

To: Hiroshi H

From: Gina S

Subject: Good

See you at the café.

* * *

 **Loading…**

 **Our servers are unable to accept any current logins at the moment. We are working to correct the problem, and we thank you for your patience. In compensation, every player will gain five hundred lien for every hour we are down in their area. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. To keep updated on our progress, please see our website.**

* * *

Terry M is online.

Terry M: Has anyone else seen the comments?

Jemma S is online.

Jemma S: I have now.

Jemma S: This is why I wait for the filters to kick in.

Gina S is online.

Gregory A is online.

Austin W is online.

Gregory A: Do we take the video down?

Terry M: This isn't the worst we've had. And none of this is our fault.

Austin W: I'm working on adding more filters now, so don't worry. Don't fret Greg. We're good.

Gina S: I'm really interested as to why so many people restarting would cause some servers to overflow.

Cole K is online.

Gregory A: Yah, it wasn't even this bad when the game first came out.

Cole K: Those comments…

Cole K: The servers are because they have to delete huge amounts of information. Lots of NPC data needs to fixed or filled in. Too many sorts going on at the same time, I wouldn't be surprised if everything is overheating.

Cole K: More importantly, I never want to have a video of me posted again.

Terry M: Dude, don't let it get you down.

Jemma S: Give it one more video, and then we can stop if you're really uncomfortable.

Terry M: Jemma, come on!

Jemma S: It's his choice. One more video or not?

Cole K: If our video gets taken down, not.

Austin W: It won't.

Cole K: If it doesn't, then we'll use minimum of my footage.

Jemma S: That's fair. Right guys?

Gina S: Good.

Gregory A: Yep.

Austin W: I'm fine with that.

Terry M: …Fine… But I still say you shouldn't give up now.

Austin W: Leave it.

Austin W: I've filtered down most of the comments.

Austin W: There are a lot of people asking to get into Cole's colony.

Gina S: Clawhook723 has first dibs.

Gina S: I'll forward you our emails, but she asked directly.

Jemma S: Thanks.

Jemma S: Cole? Thoughts?

Cole K: … Can we hold it off? I only have two people in my colony.

Terry M: Yah, maybe wait until you get a blacksmith or something.

Cole K: Um…

Terry M: Already?

Cole K: Yah. Woman named Spade.

Austin W: Cool.

Gregory A: Can't wait to see her.

Jemma S: Are we good with the video up?

Terry M: Yes.

Jemma S: Alright. See everyone tomorrow. Text if you need anything.

Jemma S is offline.

Gina S: I'm out too. Have a great Sunday, everyone.

Gina S is offline.

Cole K: Sorry guys, assignments are killer. You need anything, text me.

Austin W: No worries. We've got the same problems.

Gregory A: See you all tomorrow.

Terry M: Talk to you all later.

Terry: And guys? Don't let the comments get to you.

Terry M is offline.

Gregory A is offline.

Austin W is offline.

Cole K is offline.

* * *

 **Loading…**

 **We thank you for your patience. Our servers are now running at full capacity. Do not play this game if you are still having trouble connecting. If you have any more connection issues while playing R.W.B.Y Colonialization, please log out and send an email to our support staff. The email can be found on our website under the Help tag on the upper, far right corner of the site.**

 **Once again, thank you for your patience. We hope you enjoy your time playing R.W.B.Y. Colonization.**

* * *

Ruby blinks, hands coming to hold her head. She looks around her colony, wondering why there is a feeling of something missing hanging in the air. The streets feel a little barer than normal. A quick check shows not too many requests are being done, so it's not that.

The feeling of something missing turns into someone missing. It's not Yang she's missing, though she always misses her sister when the blonde's away. It's a different kind of thought, like she's forgetting a friend. The woman leans under the shade of a building and pulls out her scroll. Going through the messenger leaves her a little confused. It says she added a bunch of names the day before, but there are a lot of empty spaces. Ruby growls a little and deletes them all. It's not the first time this has happened, and it probably won't be the last. Stupid scroll glitches.

"Excuse me?" a young woman says. Ruby twitches upright, eyes wide and startled. The other, taller woman stares at Ruby with some sort of pleased and bored mixture. "My name is Coral. Will you be my friend?"

"Sure," Ruby smiles shakily, taking the outstretched scroll and adding herself. "I'm Ruby, nice to meet you, Coral!"

The woman's eye roll would have hurt Ruby, if not for the nagging feeling that they've met before. The woman takes back the scroll and pockets it. "Thanks."

"Um, goodbye!" Ruby calls, waving after the retreating woman. The redhead slumps against the wall after. People these days, always wanting to be friends but never wanting to _be friends_. This is what her dad had warned her about. Colony leaders have a big responsibility to be open with others. Maybe not this open, but she's always had a hard time saying no. Another reason to miss Yang; her sister scares off all the weirdos.

Ruby's gaze lands on the yesterday-added contact that didn't have a blank space. The nice guy who helped her and didn't laugh when she wound up on the wrong side of the lake. Coal- no. His friend tag says Cole; the new colony leader that didn't ask to join her colony team even after she accidently let it slip.

"Hopefully Yang won't scare him off," Ruby mutters, pocketing the device. There's work to do, and what was she standing around there for?

Oh well, it can't be that important if she can't remember it.

* * *

 **Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY. All rights belong to its respective owners.**

 **A/N: I honestly didn't think I'd post this. It started with my attempt to write a romance/harem story and turned into a mess of plots that kept going. I spent so long revisiting this chapter and thought I might as well put it up. Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed.**

 **If someone has made it to the bottom of the page (because this was a long chapter with lots of OCs and I know not everyone reads those or the author's notes), there are a few topics listed because I would like to know if there's something people are looking for in this story. So, if there is a topic below you'd like to see happen in this story, please let me know!**

 **Friendship/Romantic options (With an OC or other character)**

 **Day in the life of Character (Insert Name)**

 **Character (Insert Name)'s Point of View**

 **What's going on, on Earth, in Atlas/Mistral/Vale/Vacuo, or with a specific colony**

 **Other**


	2. We are working to fix the issue

**Loading…**

 **If you are a lower level than the colony leader of the colony NPC you are trying to recruit, the NPC will not willing leave with you.**

* * *

Gregory sighs and pulls Dia closer to his side. His colony's military commander purses her lips and leans her head on his shoulder. They aren't the only ones watching the chaos unfold outside of the tear, but Dia is the only NPC officially claimed in the area.

"What about her?" Greg asks, pointing out a lone, confused NPC to his in-game girlfriend. The man lists off the stats _observe_ gives him.

"Maybe," Dia hums, careful of the armguards as she folds her arms. "Likely has memory loss, and recently lost a child by the way her hands keep coming to her stomach with much surprise. Therapy will be extensive."

Gregory listens to his girlfriend, careful not to mention just how correct she is. The father must have been one of the ones who deleted earlier in the day. All data erased, so the unborn NPC kid and any children the deleted gamer helped conceive inside his colony would all be gone. Hard to imagine all these NPCs who were booted out of their colonies by the erasure have no memories from the time meeting their deleted gamer to now. And these are the remaining NPCs; all the really good ones have been picked over and brought to the remaining colonies in the tear.

Still, the fear and confusion has made this a spawning point for Grimm. Terry is off grinding with the rest of the low-leveled gamers while the colony leaders pick who they want.

"She's the best stats-wise," Greg finally answers when he's observed the last of the NPC families. "You may be able to make her into a special-op once she's grounded again."

"We'd have to know her semblance," Dia gives him one last squeeze and then steps away. "While I recruit her, look for someone with the best turret skill and a person with weak constitution."

The gamer raises an eyebrow but doesn't question. "Understood."

Meanwhile, Terry sighs and collects the loot dropped by the latest herd. "Yo, [GinAndToxic6]. Can you sense any more around?"

"They're all on South side," the man groans at the information from _Grimm sense_. The disappointment is echoed by the few gamers around them. "I swear someone's stealing our kills. There _were_ more."

"Then we'll go looking," Terry nods wearily, shoulders slumping. "A solo player won't last much longer out here. And all of you levels fifteen and below, start falling back! The harder-to-kill ones should start making an appearance with the cannon fodder gone!"

The group he's with nod and start positioning properly. Most, like him, are excited at the prospect of hardier Grimm to defeat. Those ones don't come out unless it's for a special event, making physical grinding much hard past level ten.

Terry will never admit, but this is his favourite stress reliever. Working with a group of people to punch evil so hard it disintegrates is more fun than the television show makes it seem. He just wishes they – his Atlas friends – did this more often. They could do great work in the Hollowed Mountains and Drifting Forests, and maybe even make it further north on the continent than others have before.

Too bad it's rare their real-life breaks never match up a lot.

"Everyone ready?" Terry asks. Once he gets their positives, they start the trek to find Grimm.

A few hours earlier, in Vacuo, Jemma rolls her eyes as she watches people steal and kidnap every good NPC kicked from a deleted colony. What's almost funny is that no one blinks twice at her hidden gamer tag, because everyone here not trying to recruit an NPC has the same [Bandit] tag hiding their name. It's the easiest tag to get, but the sheer number of gamers wearing it today is hilarious for the woman.

Finally, her _observe_ picks up a NPC that matches the bounty's description. A family of four is being led towards the tear by a gamer. It becomes obvious that the male blacksmith is the one [DustToSunlight] wants. The wife has no good stats and, outside of her spear wielding skill, nothing worth recruiting her for. The kids didn't inherit anything from their father but their eyes, so they're out too.

Jemma tsks out loud, double checking her ninja gear hides her features. The nearby crystal woman was just stolen for an eighth time while a master knightsman finally got the ropes off and now attacks those that stole him from his new gamer. Walking into the foray, Jemma dodges a knife thrown and pulls out her drug rag. While the others fight for high profile NPCs, her bounty is a simple blacksmith over a set level. Normally it would difficult, NPCs that high don't leave their colonies happily, but the rash delete makes a perfect opportunity to go for _any_ bounties. So, of course, she goes for the less risk, high reward. Those poor suckers with the crystal woman are going to be fighting for her all day.

Within seconds the blacksmith is knocked out and dragged over her shoulders. She starts running just in time for the other gamer to realize what's going on and chase after her. The family screams and yells, and for a second part of her hurts. Then she's too busy dodging and out-running the other gamer to notice. Only a couple minutes later does the guy she screwed over give up and turn back for the tear. Jemma spends the rest of the hour alternating between sneaking around and running back to Shade's bounty office.

The cash outweighs all guilt.

Jemma has to return to the real world soon after getting the bounty reward. She's barely out of the chair when her breathing picks up and she pales dramatically. The woman crawls across the floor and curls up in the space between couches. That world always feels too real, especially when she has to carry the weight of an NPC forcibly taken from someone else. She stole – _kidnapped_ – an NPC. Once she deals with this guilt here, she's going back in to do it again.

Jemma decides the guilt hits hard this time because she stole a blacksmith. She normally wouldn't care, but now her best friend has a blacksmith people will be salivating for. There will be a bounty for a Spade NPC sooner or later. And that's the legal way; kidnappers and thieves are always on the lookout for NPCs to grab.

Once she's calmed down, Jemma writes a quick note to herself to look up things that will help Cole. Things like how to protect an NPC outside of the colony, and anti-theft defences. This will help her too, she reasons. This way she'll learn what to mess with in a colony and what not to. When the woman goes back into the virtual reality, it's in a much better head space.

Austin, walking through the cleared routes in Vale, just wanted a relaxing night exploring the Vanity Ruins. Usually the sin-based dungeon is littered with Grimm at its entrance and it's only through luck he was close by when the crazy happened. Thankfully the empty tear zone he got kicked to – because _of course_ the colony he saved in was owned by someone who deleted – didn't have too many NPCs milling around outside of it. So, with the Grimm already starting to herd towards the tears, Austin wanted to take time and explore the entrance to the infinity dungeon without worry of a fight or death.

What he gets when he arrives is the sound of panicked shouting. Austin sends a look to the generated sky, wondering why him. It takes a couple minutes, the shouting turning into jeers, and when he arrives at what used to be a town's square, Austin is pissed off.

"Well, boys," Austin almost shouts, shoving his hands in his pockets to extend the small claws between his fingers without giving anything away. He doesn't want a fight, but this doesn't look like it will be resolved peacefully. "I don't think that's anyway to treat a lady, now is it?"

The two Faunus holding the human - a traveller, according to her tag - against the ground sneer up at him while the third lifts his foot off her stomach. The woman gasps for breath, turning her head just in time to miss the third Faunus' spit.

"Now," Austin lowers his head, blue hair hanging into his eyes as he grins sharply. "I really don't think you should keep antagonizing that woman."

"Keep her down," the third Faunus says. Definitely the leader of this little group. His tag reads White Fang Member, and Austin almost rolls his eyes. So predictable. "I've got the other human."

"Oh?" Austin hums, raising an eyebrow and ducking his head further to chuckle darkly. "So, it's because she's human. This is why I just can't support the group, you know?" His head jerks up, sneering. The other man pauses in his tracks, eyes narrowed. "Everyone member in Vale has only proven they're all a bunch of racists."

The White Fang member swears at him. "We don't need a _human's_ approval of our group."

"So you've shown," Austin keeps the sneering smile on his face as he lifts his hands behind his head, claws between fingers _very_ visible. The outspoken Faunus faces twists into confusion, and then irritation. "But I don't appreciate senseless violence against anyone, especially for something they can't control."

The member swears again. "Then you should be fighting with us! The humans oppress us! They're the reason we have to attack to show our dominance!"

Austin cringes back at that. "And see, it's wording like that which makes me suspect not all of you are the sanest." The lightly tanned man pretends not to see the White Fang members tense and grab their weapons. "Who even says _dominance_? It's like you're inviting them to treat us like animals."

This time the other members swear at him, jumping up and rushing to attack. Austin easily dodges, relieved his taunting worked but still feeling the curl of disgust. Out of the corner of his eye he sees the human traveller attack the opinionated member, which means he can focus all his attention on these mooks.

He feels awful when he does kill the White Fang members, watching them turn to dust and gathering the left over loot. The group doesn't do any favours for itself, sending out the crazies to terrorize citizens or make it harder for others to walk between colonies. At least, that's what it is like in Vale. Who knows what it's like in Mistral, where Adam's control of crazy is seen firsthand.

A cry of pain jerks his focus to the other fight. The traveller leans on her staff, clutching her middle. The White Fang member laughs as he flicks his knife, shooting blood off to the side. Austin carefully sneaks over, lengthening his claws and flexing his fingers while the man monologues. "How does it feel, human? Knowing you'll be bested by a Faunus? Knowing that no matter what you do, there is no help coming for-"

Claws rakes across his throat. There is an awful moment when the member's aura tries to heal him and traps the blood in his airway. Austin takes the dropped knife and puts it in the man's back twice, effectively destroying the remaining aura. The surprised, betrayed eyes plead at him, and then the final member turns to dust.

Austin collects the loot, and then turns to the human. She tenses, a mistrustful face turning even more haunted. Through the menu, Austin trades in his new, bloody dagger for potions. Then he holds them out.

The traveller looks carefully between his face and hands, mistrust falling away into uncertainty. It's the blood starting to run through her fingers that decides it. She moves so fast she's a brown blur when she snatches and chugs the health and aura replenishers. "Thank you."

Austin wipes the blood off his claws with mild distaste, shrugging at her. "I shouldn't have to have done it, but the world's not there yet."

"No," she agrees, holding out the empty bottles for him. He smiles and takes them, glad someone is polite enough to return his things. There are always too many NPCs that hog bottles for themselves. "It isn't. So thank you."

He smirks and nods, before face falls as he gazes around the empty ruins and chooses the dialogue that he cares most about. "Will you be okay getting to wherever you need to be?"

The woman pauses and glances around like him. "I… don't know." She turns back to him, expression lost. "They killed my horse. I don't know if I can make it through the Apple Woods without him."

"Where are you going?" Austin winces in sympathy because going through those woods without some kind of quickstep boost is _hard_. If she needed a horse, then it's going to be a struggle.

"The Adel colony," the woman answers, smiling shyly. "You wouldn't happen to be going that way, would you?"

No, he most definitely is not. Coco Adel's colony is at least two hours from here, and in the opposite direction of his colony. Getting there means cutting across the Apple Forest and somehow crossing the Rapids River.

"I'll take you," Austin says with a sigh, gaze barely flickering as he accepts the quest. The question mark reward better be worth it. "I've got the quickstep ability, if you're up for riding on my back."

The smiling leer she aims up and down takes him aback. "That sounds wonderful."

"A-alright," Austin hesitantly turns his back to her, and breathes a relieved sigh when she doesn't linger getting on. There will be no hesitation to drop her if she assaults him in any way.

"Thank you for this," she mutters, resting her head on his shoulder. "My name is Amber, by the way."

"Call me Aus," he replies. As they move away from the ruins, he wonders why she twitches at his nickname. "So, you ready to dodge some apples?"

She laughs and holds on tighter. "I'll be a good second set of eyes. I promise."

"Glad to hear."

In Mistral, Gina isn't having as much luck with Grimm. She took a lesser travelled route in order to avoid tears and other people, and instead found Grimm hoards travelling towards the routes she's avoiding. The human jumps from tree to tree as careful as possible to avoid alerting ground Grimm and monkey-like Grimm to her location. Thankfully, all the airborne Grimm are _staying_ in the air.

Gina's poison master was upset at ending their work early because of the swarms; if only he knew what was migrating towards the tears. She's certainly not impressed, with both his gall to send her on a fetch quest and the Grimm. How dare they make things harder.

Gina almost curses when a forest line comes into view. She goes to hang a left – there has to be some kind of train or tear or something to get her to Mistral – when she registers the farm being attacked by Grimm. Attacked as in, there must be people inside with negative emotions or the cannon fodder Grimm would have kept on trucking by. Her stupidly soft heart won't let her move on now that she can see there are people in danger. Gina waits until the Grimm not attacking have made it a long way away before she continues to the forest line, secretly hoping the barn will either fall or the Grimm will get bored and leave.

Of course neither happens. It's almost like there's a special kind of luck toying her around today. Never mind getting to Mistral for the fetch quest, she's saving and quitting as soon as possible. Hope for better luck tomorrow. But first, people to save.

A couple of the Beowolves turn and run as soon as she hits the property. She even gets a quest, a basic save whoever is under the question mark name and get a question mark reward. The first of the Grimm are quickly dispatched with her poison tipped fan. She may not love the weapon, but it is best for killing those with no poison immunity. Grimm can shake off the status effect in a few minutes, but her newest blend needs testers and who better than those scraping at the barn door.

Gina almost laughs her disbelief when a giant scorpion Grimm, [Death Stalker], bursts from the trees behind the barn after the grunts are all dust. She really does have terrible luck. The quest changes from _save ? ? ?_ to _protect the barn_. Gina switches from fans to fire dust arrows because when in doubt, kill it with fire. Sure, the barn almost gets hit by the flames, but she dosed it in water dust so all's good.

Gina turns quickly when the barn door opens. A young man hesitantly steps out, eyes falling and staying on her. The NPC slumps in relief and tries to look brave walking over to her. Her stupid, bleeding heart makes her hurry to him and ask the obvious worried question. "Are you okay?"

"Yah," he shakily scratches behind his head, shoulders curling in. He's definitely younger than her, but also much taller. "Thank you. I… really didn't think I was getting out of there."

The poor shaking guy looks one stiff breeze away from collapsing. Gina slowly broadcasts her movements, taking his arm and guiding him to nearby stump. "Sit down."

He looks at her, confused. "What?"

"Sit down," Gina demands, gesturing to the stump. He blinks a few times and sits – _falls_ – on it. She starts rubbing his shoulder, speaking softer now that he's not at risk of collapsing. "That was pretty scary, huh?"

"Yah," he barks out a laugh and wipes his eyes. "They came out of nowhere. I've dealt with one or two at a time before, but… there were hundreds."

"Are you alone out here?" Gina asks worriedly. It's a big property, and rare for an NPC to be by themselves this far away from a colony. Only main characters do this type of thing, and the kind of luck it takes for a gamer to actually assist more than one main character is astronomical.

"I have been for a few years," the man sighs, hanging his head and clenching his fists. "My aunt went missing awhile back, and it's just been me since."

That makes sense. "I'm sorry," Gina tells him, kneeling down to be at his level. "No one should have to go through that kind of thing alone."

He gives a choked laugh, and then breaks down sobbing. "I thought I was going to die."

Gina hugs him securely; watching the forest lines over his back to make sure no Grimm decides to return. "I know. Let it all out."

He does, quiet sobs against her shoulder as he grips her jacket for a lifeline. He reminds her of the raid survivors in Mistral's hospital. Men and women who thought bandits and rogues were the worst things to look out for until a horde of Grimm showed up before the hunters and huntresses. The difference is she's seen the horde that passed by his barn without destroying it. If her mind didn't see them as enemies in a game – still scary but desensitizing with every kill – then she would have broken down and been found out in the trees ages ago.

She runs her fingers through his hair when she spots a few Grimm straggling through the trees. He draws back, green-hazel eyes red around the sclera and worried face wet with tears.

"Don't turn around," Gina assures him, carefully detangling. "I'll be back."

"What's going on?" he snatches her wrist as she goes past, but doesn't turn.

"Just a problem I'll deal with," she promises. The Grimm roar and he flinches, shoulders curling in more. "Don't worry. Nothing's going to make it this far."

"…Okay," he lets go after a long few seconds. "Be safe."

Gina smirks and walks forwards. Two Grimm turn into two dozen, and it takes longer than she thought to defeat them, but she gains a level so win-win.

"Wonder if I should up charisma," Gina mutters, looking at her new skill point. She glances back at the man still on the stump, and then saves the point for a later date. Her speech options pop up as draws near. The one that extends the quest seems simple enough. "Do you need any help cleaning up?"

The NPC jolts in surprise, and then sends a hopeful smile her way. "I do, if you don't mind. You've already done so much…"

"I wouldn't have offered otherwise." He takes Gina's hand and she pulls him up, shaking it once before letting go. "Call me Gin."

"Oscar," he replies. He slowly builds confidence as he guides her through the steps of fixing the turned over produce and destroyed fields. She gains the _farming_ skill and a couple recipes by the time everything is cleared. They trade contact information, and Gina promises to be back for more lessons. Then, Oscar helps point her to the train station, where she finally heads towards Mistral.

"No!" Gina yells after the third stop, slamming her hands on the table and scaring quite a few other passengers. She seethes a bit before folding her arms and burying her head in them.

[xJemstoneWitchx] is going to have a field day when she sees Gina's brand new, potential relationship quest. Maybe Oscar will get over it. She didn't do anything but help him, so there's a chance he'll dislike who she is and the new quest will go away. Yes, perfect. He'll forget all about her by the end of the week so long as she doesn't message him.

Now she has to work on getting stopping Sun's potential relationship, or at least holding it off until he realizes she works for the poison master. Withholding that secret has to be a romance killer. A betrayal at its finest. No way will he like her after that comes out. She just needs to avoid him until it does.

* * *

 **Loading…**

 **Traders in Remnant are some of the best public speakers you'll ever meet. What's rare is finding a trader who can win a physical fight.**

* * *

Cole enters back into the game during the time all rare or high-level NPCs have been recruited, taken, kidnapped, or stolen. Not that it affects him. A person needs a high _recruiting_ skill to get anyone good, and there is no miracle for the under-leveled to get someone _way_ out of there league. As for stealing, well he doesn't want to kidnap anyone and would have to turn off Lonely Road to do so. Get his butt kicked? No thanks. Cole doesn't plan on recruiting, instead using an hour or two to play the game and get away from homework. Maybe he'll grind up the skill by pestering those outside, but he doesn't want to be _that guy_ , even to computer generated people.

Cole sighs and reads the loading tip. Traders are a common NPC classification around tears with lots of colony zones in them and to the NPC run colonies. His own tear has a few dozen colonies open to the public, so there are supposed to be at least two or three unaligned traders coming through. He'll probably need something to trade with before he thinks of recruiting one. Beginner level farm and mining outpost are a start, but that might not be able to keep up with demand if he does get a trader. Normally the produce and material goes towards keeping the villagers fed and-

…He forgot to make a community center and dump berries there. Bonbon and Spade are probably starving. This session is just off to a _great_ start.

Cole blinks a few times as the loading screen turns into a ceiling. He practically sprints out of his room, skidding into the kitchen. Berries get transferred to the empty fridge, and then he's outside running to a free plot. At the last second he notices the requests board has actual requests. There's some stumbling before he can manage to switch momentum and hurry back.

"Huh," Cole huffs, accepting the requests. The first tutorial that begins is _starting a farm_. The game gives him potato seeds, so no hunting around or looking for treasure chests just yet. After the pitiful three-by-three plot is watered and fertilized – and maybe he _will_ need to look for chests because that's it for fertilizer – the _digging materials_ tutorial starts. This one is over faster, since he actually has a decent _miner_ skill from all that time spent in the tutorial. The final tutorial, _community living_ , leaves him making pained noises as the semi-decent community hall finishes off his lumber and material stone.

"This looks pretty neat," Spade scoffs, making Cole glance over his shoulder. He closes the screen, effectively transferring the berries as free-for-all meals to the community, and turns just in time to be tackled by his in-game daughter. Spade smirks and grabs a bowel while Cole rubs the girl's head, wishing her a good afternoon. "I had Bonbon take everything from your fridge earlier. Sorry."

It's completely unapologetic, so Cole shrugs in reply. "I don't want you to starve. There should be enough food for a few days, and by then the potatoes will be ready. Sorry about not doing this earlier."

Spade shoots him an indescribable look, and then nods slowly. "It's no problem. I hope you don't expect one of us to farm."

"I don't," Cole replies honestly, but he didn't think about whom else could when he's not playing. Maybe he really will need to try and recruit a homeless NPC. Someone who has low expectations and isn't going to be let down by the pitiful square that is for beginner farmers. That… doesn't actually leave a lot of options.

"I might know a guy," Spade says between spoonsful of dispensed berries. "Jade; son of a jade crystal guy and some old colony rustic. Of course, I haven't seen him since before I was chained down." Her eyes shift away as a scowl twists her face. "The Jetsonery Tribe worked him in the fields as soon as they killed his father. If he's still there, tell him I sent you and that I still have that thing he wants."

"Understood," Cole nods, accepting the quest. Five days to complete it doesn't seem like a lot, even though the objective is only a few hours past Spade's old cave prison. A team member request pops up, and Cole looks down at the girl hugging his leg. "I can't take you with me, not until we get you a little stronger."

Bonbon makes a face at him, pouting and dragging her feet towards Spade. The darker woman rolls her eyes and gets the girl her own bowl. Cole stops her before the dispenser and hands over the iron for the last request on the board.

"You got them," Spade says, impressed. The game automatically changes who holds the material, and a selection screen appears as Spade explains the reward. "Pick which weapon you spend a lot of time using, and I'll make you one."

He clicks the dagger because that's the only one he doesn't have from the options listed, and most of them are all question marked boxes. Spade hums. "The dagger, huh? Is that your main weapon?"

This feels like a really important question, but Cole can't put his finger on why. He hesitantly presses yes, and nothing happens afterwards so hopefully it's all okay. Spade just pockets the materials and turns to take the pouting Bonbon back to her smithy with their food. Cole stops her once again to fill up the babysitting quota. Then he pulls Bonbon into a hug, lessening the girl's sour mood.

"You be good for Spade, alright?" Cole says, rocking back on his heels to keep her gaze. "Listen to her and don't do anything dangerous."

Bonbon nods and scampers off after the woman. Cole sighs and heads for the exit of his colony. It's supposed to take kids a week to grow up in-game. However, Bonbon doesn't look any older than the day before. He was expecting a few more years to be tacked on, had thought maybe he could start getting her level up once she's considered an adult in-game. If she doesn't follow the normal aging rules though, what will happen?

He's brought up short with his thoughts when another tutorial appears. Suddenly, he feels connected to Gina, as one casual gamer to another. There's also pity for Terry, who tries so hard to get Weiss' affection it hurts to watch. Cole goes through the tutorial of pressing the relationships tab and opening the now-active potential romance quest.

The Rosy Reaper

Ruby Rose leads one of the greatest colonies in Remnant, and in another life would have become one of the greatest huntresses the world had ever seen. Get up to standards and maybe you'll have a shot at being included with the greatness.

Step One: Get ? ? ? and ? ? ?'s approval.

Cole actually knows this one. A few of the let's players his group knows and follows have started this quest; most make it to step three before they get stuck. He breathes a sigh of relief, because he has no plans to head to Patch – which means no meeting Zwei – and Yang isn't even on the continent. So, if he does meet Ruby again – which is really unlikely as she travels Vale randomly for a week before spending the rest of her time in her colony – the friendship meter is the only thing that will go up or down. Of course, it could turn into a romance meter without following all the steps, but that's only happened to three gamers and all meters referred to Jaune.

So for now, he's good.

Cole smiles at the numbers for Bonbon and Spade. The girl's meter is past the trust line, while Spade is still hesitant but steadily rising. It's nice to see he's not a complete failure at the game.

When Cole steps out of the tear, all that confidence withers. He goes still, eyes wide as dozens – it has to be over a hundred at the least – of NPCs stand around dazed or scared. He steps out of the way for a small group entering the tear, almost whining at the high levels floating above their heads. After a few more moments of hesitation, he flicks off Lonely Road. It's a bit comforting that the dozen or so gamers running around aren't all as high level as the NPCs, but that might not be such a good thing. If not every NPC can join a colony, then what happens to them? Grimm is the obvious answer.

Cole carefully moves around the gamers and NPCs, _observing_ everything he can. He is flooded with names, occupations, skills, and much more. Familial ties, ages, and – after the moment _observe_ reaches level fifty – descriptions about their likes and dislikes shift through his vision along with their inventory. He twitches, getting used the added information running a marathon in his field of view. Cole finally stops it when his aura meter sinks lower than he wants and he takes a break against a tree to let it replenish.

There is a family of four NPCs across from him. Theirs are the last information boxes in his view, so he takes a moment to process everything there. They are the Lindu family, and they're confused for the most part. The mother, Mari, is a tall, tanned blonde with a near-mastery in sword fighter and a stud nose piercing. The father, Dizon, is a short brunet with one ear pierced, and is a poorly skilled trader. The kids get their pale skin from their father, with the eldest, Kaze, keeping his mother's hair and green eyes, and high-level sword fighting skills. The sister Raine – who goes by gender neutral pronouns, according to her observe details – has their father's brown hair and purple eyes, and love for trading.

Cole can understand why they are still here. Sword masters are a dime a dozen, and Mari doesn't even have the mastery. Dizon doesn't have anywhere close to the high trader skills found by normally generated NPCs on the road. Kaze, as he has adult status, could be recruited without the family in tow, but the scar on his lip is neither intimidating nor attractive. If he wasn't lacking any other weaponry skills, he may have become just another soldier in a colony's army. Swords are apparently all he's good with. Raine is a day away from adult status and that might be the only thing keeping them from being dragged off. A short, pretty brunet with a rare eye colour, they would have been taken by a colony if the low-leveled family wasn't a package deal and the mother and brother couldn't fight off any potential thieves.

The Lindu family isn't the only family being left behind, but they one of the few that gamers don't give a second glance. Cole decides against looking away. Maybe it's because they're the only _observe_ data he read _and_ processed. Or maybe it's the low level farming skill the mother has. Or the sad, low charisma stat the father has.

Cole walks up and introduces himself. "I was wondering if you would like to join my colony."

Dizon attempts to respond smoothly, but it just comes off as trying too hard.

Mari stares down at the gamer with pursed lips and deadpanned eyes. "Why?"

"I've recently started a colony," Cole goes with the _honesty_ option, "and I'm looking for workers."

Mari frowns hard but stays silent while her husband rambles on about how 'they're not looking for a beginning colony' and 'it's not you, we just want better for our family'.

"If that's truly how you feel," Cole starts, getting notified of his new _bluffing_ skill, "then I'll turn around and not bother you again. You won't have anything to do with my colony, and I'll respect your wishes to look elsewhere." Wow, that sounded weak even to him.

"Hold on," Mari stops her husband from saying anything else and glares at Cole. "What jobs would we be doing?"

"Farming, mining, or helping the local blacksmith," he pauses and adds, "or babysitting."

"Do you have tools for us to work with?" Mari hums thoughtfully.

"Yes," he nods because, really, he doesn't need a watering can to fight Grimm. "And you can always request if you want something else."

"It sounds good," Raine squeaks softly from where they cling to their brother's shirt. "A new start."

"I want to go," Kaze says quietly, slowly to make sure his words don't slur. He locks eyes with Cole. "Will there be a training ring?"

"Eventually," Cole answers.

"Then I'm in," he turns to his parents. "You two might want to find somewhere better, but we can _make_ a colony better. We can help shape this into a place we want to live. And if it starts with doing basic jobs, then so be it."

Cole is impressed with the guy's _enticing_. Mari and Dizon share a long look before Mari nods and turns to Cole. "Lead the way, boss."

Cole twitches at the name and motions them onwards. "Just call me Cole, please." They easily get past the gamers and NPCs still standing around, and he feels guilty not inviting the rest to his colony. Then he remembers there now isn't enough food to last a few days. The colony also gets water from a well at the moment, which needs to be filled with water dust every now and then. There just isn't enough for a large group right now.

The gamer pauses near the tear as a thought occurs to him. He turns to the family and looks each in the eye as he asks, "do you have any problems with Faunus?"

"No," Mari answers for the group, the kids seeming confused.

"Good," Cole smiles a little and motions them through the tear set to his colony's plane. "The blacksmith and my daughter are Faunus, and they were here before you."

"We understand," Dizon says coolly.

Cole's smile drops. "Just making sure."

It could be worse. Some Atlas colonies are all-human or all-Faunus because of the discrimination. That question always has to be asked in Mistral as some colony shop keepers won't serve the other race. If Cole's remembering right, there is a let's player with a truly divided colony.

After getting the group settled and showing them around, Spade stands behind her counter, watching the children and Kaze run around while the parents explore their house. She tilts her head towards the gamer leaning against her workshop. "So there's a new sword fighter in town."

"Yep," Cole rolls his eyes at the dialogue.

"She's not yet a master, but she's getting there." A pointed look is thrown at the man. "I'm opening up my stock to include swords. If you want to buy any, let me know."

Well, that's interesting. "Thanks. Do you need any more material?"

Spade gives him an indescribable look that melts into a soft smile. "Nah, I'll be good for now. Thanks, Cole."

They go back to watching the others, but Cole jolts slightly at a new quest. He bites his tongue to hold a groan and opens the relationship tabs. The exasperation shifts to disbelief as Shade, who is still hesitant to trust him, now has a potential romance quest and a romance meter.

The Fox-smith

A certain blacksmith you know thinks you're decent enough to not have ulterior motives for talking to her. Not only does she appreciate it, it's a requirement of hers when she looks for a potential bed buddy. Now to meet the rest of those requirements…

Step One: Give Spade three iron ores, five bronze ores, and any ? ? ?

Cole takes that as his cue to leave. He waves goodbye to his in-game daughter and hops out of the colony, setting Lonely Road on. The next hour is spent scavenging for food, and then the hour after is spent leveling up his sneak skill as he _evades_ Grimm. While he ends up taking a longer route to the quest for a farmer, he wonders if Jade will turn out to be a datable male. It's a known fact in the game that men are very outnumbered by the women, and NPCs are more likely to have a daughter than a son so it only increases the divide. Every character is set to allow an open-ended or poly relationship; it's in the game's handbook and warnings. Still, it's a surprise those relationships don't happen more often. Then again, 'healthy' NPC relationships – where people follow the steps for romancing options – don't have too often either.

Cole almost groans when he sees the numbers for camera recording time. He's been in here longer than he thought, and really needs to get out. The nice thing is that he finally activates the quick-travel tutorial when he enters an empty tear plane. He gets back to his room in his colony, and saves and exits the game.

School awaits for tomorrow.

* * *

 **Game Saved!**

 **Exiting in 3… 2… 1-**

* * *

Jemma slides into the seat beside him with a quiet 'good morning' and Cole replies with the same greeting. He only put his book away after a few seconds of her staring and pushing papers to his side of the desk. "Uh…"

"These are things to help with your colony," Jemma says, talking a bit too fast. She fiddles with the thermos in her lap, and he just knows she's running on little sleep again. Happy Monday to them. "I've gone over what I know and complied lists on what you'll want and where you'll want to put money into. Start recruiting baseline NPCs that want to become weapon wielders or some kind of hunter or huntress or something because then you can unlock weapons with the blacksmith and the higher the NPC rank with the weapon the better weapons Spade will make and that way you can level up your weapon skills with them to gain more experience."

He takes the break in sentences with both hands and looks up from the very detailed list. "Jemma." She blinks back at him. "Thank you." Her soft, relieved breath almost hurts think about. Just how much time did she spend on this? At least she printed it out; her handwriting is terrible. "Can I message you if I have any questions?"

"Of course," she beams.

They fall back to a peaceful silence as class starts, taking notes with everyone else. About halfway through, their phones light up in sync. Jemma unlocks hers while Cole continues writing. She rolls her eyes, replies, and goes back to the notes. "It's from Terry."

Cole nods and goes through his messages when the professor shows a video clip. He almost snorts, catching and turning it into a cough.

Cole Kraydo – 9:52 am: It's only the second Monday back. How bad can the class be?

Terry MacDougal – 10:22 am: Don't even jinx me like that. Anyways, anyone free to meet up?

"Do you have time?" Cole asks his friend as they pack their things.

"For an hour," Jemma makes a face. "I'm sort-of regretting shoving all my classes into the first few days."

"At least they fit," Cole gripes as he follows her, texting Terry a confirmation for the both of them. "I have to take an extra data management class next term because everything happened during my core courses."

"Ouch," Jemma hisses theoretically. "At least you end before seven."

"Touché."

"Someone end me," Austin groans as meets them in front of the library. "Three weeks in and I. Can't. Even."

"Ooo, you kind of need that for a math career," Jemma laughs at his disgruntled face. "Seriously, though, why do you do this to yourself?"

"I thought I could manage six courses," Austin rolls his eyes as they grab one of the few empty tables. "Two of them are fluff things, you know? But apparently third year just wants to kill me early."

"I'm so sorry, man," Cole shakes his head pityingly.

"Hey, guys," Terry says, dumping his bag on the ground. "Anyone heard the news about Col. RWBY?"

"No," Jemma sits up with another gulp of coffee.

"What's up?" Austin asks, dragging out a large textbook.

Terry makes a dramatic pause. "Yang's returned to Vale."

They all jump when Cole's head hits the desk. "Ow…"

"Dude, why?" Austin blinks and taps him with the book.

"I got Ruby's romance option," Cole grumbles, rubbing his forehead.

Jemma can't hold in her laughter while Terry rolls his eyes, expressing his displeasure that everyone seems to get a romance option but him.

"I still don't have anyone," Jemma reminds him. There's a pause before they all turn to Austin, who pretends not to notice by reading his textbook.

"Dude," Terry waves a hand under the other man's face. "This is when you say 'I don't have one either'."

"Her name is Amber," Austin says, aiming for breezy but just sounding strained. Jemma starts laughing again, much to Cole's confusion. "I didn't know at the time, but she has, like, five minutes of screen time in the show."

"Seriously?" Terry asks, looking interested. "What does she do and how did you meet her?"

"I saved her from some White Fang thugs," Austin shrugs like it was nothing. "And then escorted her to a colony."

"She dies super quick in the T.V. show," Jemma shakes as she takes another drink of coffee. "Like, one long, drawn out death scene across season three. Not really all that helpful in the whole thing."

"She was the Fall Maiden," Terry snaps his fingers and points at Austin. "Dude, that will make you the first gamer to potentially romance a Fall Maiden."

"It's just been a week of firsts," Cole smiles sympathetically at the red haired, tanned man. Austin looks knowingly back. "Where do you think she's been hiding this whole time?"

"Who knows," Austin shrugs. "It's a big world, and I only met her in a dungeon entrance that was cleared of Grimm."

"Huh," Terry tilts his head thoughtfully. "Now that is interesting. What do you guys think to doing a raid? See if it will happen again."

"Not until I'm higher leveled," Cole makes a face. "I am so close to level six it isn't funny."

"Wait," Terry sits upright and _stares_. "You mean you've done all this crazy stuff and still haven't leveled up?"

"People keep kill-stealing me," Cole rolls his eyes. "All the EXP I get is from talking to others or using aura skills. It's not a lot."

"Not now," Austin nods. "But one day, you're colony will be huge, and you'll get tons per day just for showing up and talking to people."

"Ugh, social situations," Jemma mock shutters. "I'm fine taking requests and killing Grimm, thank you very much."

"Introvert," Terry jokes.

"And proud of it."

They eventually have to part ways for next class. Cole, alone in the back of the lecture hall, pulls out Jemma's tips and tricks lists. He settles in to reading while he waits for the room to fill.

It's rather useful. Especially the tip that the Jetsonery Tribe is known for keeping its farm fields a couple dozen kilometers separate from the clan compound. The tip is supposed to help if he wants to steal some food, but it will make finding Jade a lot easier.

He takes out his phone and pulls up the fan page on the Jetsonery Tribe. A little more light reading shouldn't hurt. He really does need all the help he can get.

* * *

 **Loading…**

 **Dying in-game erases all data up to your last save. Only other gamers will remember any progress you may have made.**

* * *

Cole: Hey Austin, can you recommend and hunting/gathering spots around my area?

Aus: I've never been to the area where you are, sorry.

Cole: Np

Cole: Was just interested; been picking fruit for hours and don't want to get any closer to the Apple Forest.

Aus: Go into the forest. It's a good way to get free apples.

Cole: And injuries. My quickstep skill takes a quarter of my aura to use still.

Jem: Ouch. It's a good idea to try leveling that up like yesterday.

Cole: Aren't you in class?

Jem: Yes, until 7.

Cole: Alright then.

Cole: I thought your phone didn't support the app to chat.

Jem: It doesn't. And I wouldn't be caught on my phone in class.

Jem: I just don't get the special features on the laptop app but oh well.

Jem: BTW Gina, Cole and Austin got main characters' romance options.

Gory: Wait seriously? Why didn't you guys say anything?

Aus: It's embarrassing.

Ter: Not really.

Cory: No, I'm with Austin. And Gina.

Aus: I'm not here for romance; I'm here to kick butt and keep my civilization alive.

GinTheRainbow: THANK YOU!

GinTheRainbow: I got another main character too and I almost threw myself off a train.

GinTheRainbow: The loot was too great though.

Aus: Stay strong, Gin.

Jem: Who was it?

GinTheRainbow: Some guy named Oscar.

Jem: Wait, really?

Ter: OZPINHEAD Oscar?

GinTheRainbow: Yeah, but he doesn't have Ozpin in his head as far as I could tell, not that I realized it was him until I looked him up.

Jem: I'm impressed.

Jem: How did you even find him?

GinTheRainbow: He runs a farm off the beaten path. It was surrounded by Grimm.

Aus: I wonder if the saving-people-thing is how to get the good guys.

Ter: So I just need to save Weiss to get her to like me?

Gory: Would the bad guys be us kidnapping people or something?

Cole: I was just nice to Ruby so I don't think saving them is necessary.

Gory: Until Zen says something, you just have to keep trying with Weiss.

Gory: Hold up, you got Ruby?

GinTheRainbow: Cole, you are so screwed.

Cole: Thanks for the vote of confidence.

GinTheRainbow: I mean, Yang is in Vale again.

Gory: Right, you'll have a chance to meet her and get her blessing.

Cole: I don't want to date Ruby.

Ter: You might not now, but the views Cole~

Cole: I'm not even sure I want my vids to be posted after this week.

Ter: Cole, come on man.

Jem: We might not need his. Three other bloggers and players succeeded in the tutorial and are already ahead of him.

Jem: By the way, are you stalling?

Cole: Maybe.

GinTheRainbow: Why?

Cole: I need more food for the others, and there are some requests for seeds and tools and I'm intimidated by Jade, alright? The guy is 6'4" and looks like he could crush a watermelon between his thighs. I don't want my head to be the watermelon.

Ter: Too much info dude.

Aus: Why do you need the guy?

Cole: Spade's quest for me to get a farmer. I've got three/four days to complete it. Right now I'm trying to level up and feed my colony and bond with Bonbon and avoid Spade who's decided it's alright to unlock the romance option with me.

Cole: Bonbon's really taken to knife throwing so we have lots of fun going over that.

Ter: Didn't you kill a dude in front of her by throwing a knife?

Cole: Yes. Please don't remind me.

Ter: Noted.

Cole: How was class, Jemma?

Jem: Long. How's avoiding your problems?

Cole: I'm now level seven.

Jem: Nice.

Gory: How are your skill points looking?

Cole: Six additionals and I'm scared to use them.

GinTheRainbow: Why?

Aus: Fair.

Cole: I want to add them to everything, but don't know if I want to stay even or have one lord-tier stat eventually.

Ter: The hard questions.

Gory: I recommend keeping your charisma high as long as you are a colony leader. It gives you extra help with speech skills and multiple options the higher it is.

Cole: Thanks. I'm sort of regretting having strength at eight when I don't seem to attack anything as often anymore.

Jem: You'll get there.

Ter: Guys, do me a favour and save where you are right now.

Aus: Alright.

GinTheRainbow: Done.

Cole: Yep.

Jem: Not playing, but I'll do it again as soon as I get in.

Gory: Okay, I'm good, what happened?

Ter: Died to some stupid ice-Grimm-thing in the mountains. Lost all my progress from an hour ago.

Aus: Ouch.

Cole: Sorry, man.

Gory: Don't try doing it alone again. I'll come with you tomorrow.

Ter: Thanks, but I'm calling it a night.

Cole: See you early tomorrow.

Ter: Ugh, don't remind me.

;;;

Jemma Saurten – 11:34 pm: I emailed you everything people know about game-version Oscar Pines.

Tuesday, September 16th, 2042

Gina Sinclair – 8:21 am: Thanks. I actually saw the one about his aunt included in the missing person's list.

Jemma Saurten – 8:27 am: Do you think it's weird? I think it's weird. Like, you are the first person to see him since version 3.

Gina Sinclair – 8:53 am: That's weird to think about. Do you think he-is-Ozpin sort of thing?

Jemma Saurten – 8:56 am: Honestly? No clue, but I really don't think so. The fan base has been screaming for hawt wizard headmaster since day one.

Jemma Saurten – 8:56 am: I'm not making that up, by the way. Type in 'hawt wizard headmaster' and you get more results about Ozpin than Dumbledore.

Gina Sinclair – 9:00 am: …Not going to ask.

Gina Sinclair – 9:01 am: Are you free to meet for lunch today?

Jemma Saurten – 9:01 am: Yah. Library at noon?

Gina Sinclair – 9:02 am: Yes and yes. See you then.

Gina Sinclair – 10:43 am: Oh my gosh.

Gina Sinclair – 10:43 am: Link: (WhenYouCan'tBePartOfTheActionBecauseSchool)

Jemma Saurten – 10:52 am: Holy red flag batman, Adam's been busy.

;;;

Austin Wayo – 11:01 am: Link: (WhenYou'reGladYouAren'tInMistral)

Terry MacDougal – 11:19 am: Here here.

;;;

Austin Wayo – 11:01 am: Link: (WhenYou'reGladYouAren'tInMistral)

Gregory Avleen – 11:35 am: Good luck dealing with the members in Vale. At least Atlas doesn't have that problem.

;;;

Austin Wayo – 11:01 am: Link: (WhenYou'reGladYouAren'tInMistral)

Cole Kraydo – 11:37 am: That's not going to end well.

Cole Kraydo – 11:38 am: Now I'm worried he might actually make good on the promise to take over Remnant colony by colony.

;;;

Austin Wayo – 11:01 am: Link: (WhenYou'reGladYouAren'tInMistral)

Jemma Saurten – 11:48 am: Sienna was never that level of crazy.

Jemma Saurten – 11:48 am: But we would totally chew him up and spit him out in Vacuo.

;;;

Austin Wayo – 11:01 am: Link: (WhenYou'reGladYouAren'tInMistral)

Gina Sinclair – 11:59 am: Screw you too.

Gina Sinclair – 11:59 am: Seriously though, I wish Sienna never went missing. SHE didn't have ideas of grandeur.

;;;

To: Hiroshi H

From: Gina S

Subject: Have you seen those Adam hate posts

How is an AI crazy like Adam yet still smart enough to recruit those from the deleted colonies? How did nobody notice the White Fang NPCs doing this?

I know we can respawn infinitely, but I'm still worried.

Are you still okay with meeting up in Mistral tomorrow?

;;;

To: Gina S

From: Hiroshi H

Subject: I will gladly fight him if there is a group

That man is terrifyingly strong to go against solo. I get what you mean, but there's no way he can mobilize to take out every colony in Mistral. Especially not with every gamer now on high-alert.

I'm okay if you're okay. Same time same place, and can I bet you money that Sun walks by the café at least once?

;;;

To: Hiroshi H

From: Gina S

Subject: You're not funny

No bet. You know his schedule always takes him to Mistral for Wednesdays.

Just promise me if things start getting violent, then we can leave?

;;;

To: Gina S

From: Hiroshi H

Subject: I'm hilarious

Of course. See you tomorrow.

;;;

To: Gregory A, Cole K, Terry M, Jemma S, and Austin W

From: Gina S

Subject: FW: Did anyone else get this quest?

I'm not dealing with this bull.

-Original Message-

From: Luke G

Sent: Wednesday, 17 September 2042 12:09 AM

To: Adel J, Devon R, Gina S, and 7 others

Subject: Did anyone else get this quest?

Link: (WhatEvenIsThis)

Two weeks. The White Fang attacks Mistral – as in Sparrow's mountain top remains of the capital city – in TWO WEEKS!

I don't care if you have the quest or not, send this message to others you think can help. Adam is coming.

;;;

Gregory Avleen – 7:34 am: Did you see the message about the attack on Mistral?

Terry MacDougal – 7:59 am: It's the only thing being talked about online. What's up?

Gregory Avleen – 8:04 am: We need to start stockpiling.

Terry MacDougal – 8:06 am: You don't think it will be like the pirate raid in Vacuo, do you?

Gregory Avleen – 8:07 am: Better safe than sorry.

;;;

Jemma Saurten – 8:16 am: Guess who has a midterm October 1.

Cole Kraydo – 8:29 am: Ouch. I'm sure you'll be able to watch the videos after. Like a gift.

Jemma Saurten – 8:31 am: I know. It's just not the same…

Cole Kraydo – 8:32 am: You were live at the last event, so there's that.

Cole Kraydo – 8:33 am: Not going to lie, so glad it's not in Vale this time. I'm nowhere near ready to fight any main characters.

Jemma Saurten – 8:33 am: I guess…

Jemma Saurten – 8:34 am: Oh yah, Gina isn't going to have it easy.

Cole Kraydo – 8:36 am: She doesn't want to do this though, does she?

Jemma Saurten – 8:36 am: I don't think Terry will let us miss this.

Jemma Saurten – 8:37 am: And even if she does get out of it the whole continent will be in an uproar. She won't be able to avoid it entirely.

Jemma Saurten – 8:38 am: Oh my gosh.

Jemma Saurten – 8:38 am: This is going to be like those rogue pirates all over again isn't it?

Cole Kraydo – 8:43 am: What do you mean?

Jemma Saurten – 8:45 am: Vale gamers won't get involved and Atlas will halt trades minus the Schnee dust trades. The only difference is Mistral can't turn their noses at us this time.

He stops his reply text to ask when she slides into the seat next to him. "Do you think Vacuo will get involved?"

Jemma looks at him with uncertain eyes. "Honestly? After what the Mistral colonies said about our event, I don't think there's a chance of us hopping on a boat to even try."

"Not even for Sparrow?"

A long pause. "Not even for her."

;;;

Austin Wayo – 10:53 am: If you get forced into doing the quest, I'll come over to help you.

Gina Sinclair – 11:04 am: Thanks.

Gina Sinclair – 11:05 am: Though I really don't want to be in Mistral when it happens.

* * *

 **Loading…**

 **If an NPC known from the television show crosses a kingdom's borders, you will be alerted. Search a kingdom or ask other NPCs for hints to find a main character that does not leave the kingdom often.**

* * *

"She's pretty," Neptune says, peering across the street at the café.

"Dude," Sun nudges him to keep walking, casting embarrassed glances to the outside seating area. "Don't stare like that, it's weird."

"Oh, like you stopping by here every Wednesday?" Neptune throws back.

"That's different," Sun argues.

"Yah… I don't see how it is." Neptune throws up his hands in surrender at the glare he's thrown. They turn the corner and out of sight of the café, and the blue haired man sighs. "Dude, you need to either ask her on a date or let this go. You're edging into stalking territory."

"I'm not stalking her," Sun defends a little too loudly. He smiles sheepishly at the people looking at him, and then gazes pleadingly to his friend and right-hand man. "Look, I just come to report to Jack on Wednesdays and I know she'll be there. And, if she's free, I'm going to ask her to hang out."

"Don't you have her contact information?"

"Well, yes," Sun shrugs and adverts his eyes. "But I don't want to bother her."

"Message her already," Neptune urges. "Just don't keep doing this. It isn't healthy, man."

"I know," Sun's shoulders droop and he stares at the sidewalk. "I know. Fine. Alright. I'll message her after this meeting. But," he points a mocking finger at the blue haired man, "if she bolts on me, I'm going to be so pissed."

"At least you'll know," Neptune says before he pats Sun easily on the back. "And she doesn't seem like she's anything like Blake. I don't think she'll run just because you want to hang out. Normal people don't." Before Sun can reply to that, he switches topics. "How did you two meet again?"

"Blake?"

"No, Gin."

"She volunteers at the hospital. I dragged Scarlet in there and she didn't bat an eye, just took over when the doctor was being really rude."

 _Discriminatory to me_ , Neptune picks up the unsaid. "And that's how you became friends?"

"What? No, she saved my butt when I was out looking for the apothecary thief."

Their scrolls chime in sequence. Sun groans when he reads the message while Neptune panics a little, "Come on, man, we're late."

"Let's go, junior detective."

Neptune pauses, and then smiles fondly at his best friend. "Can you believe we actually get to do detective work for a living now?"

"Not if Jack gives our work away." Sun calls, waving his scroll high in the air.

"She wouldn't, you're her favourite stowaway!"

* * *

 **Loading…**

 **If you want to hang out with others or loiter in a violence-free area, book time in a Lounge. All NPC colonies have them at a set price per hour, and gamers who have them determine their own prices and times.**

* * *

The NPC waiters and waitresses slowly move away from the main floor and circular tables. The gamers seated turn their masquerade masked faces to the stage. All gamer tags are covered, but only one reads [Merchant]. The [Merchant] makes her way up the stairs, smiling at her audience. Once centered, she taps the microphone to signal the noise to fall away and lights to flare up and focus on her.

"Thank you, honored guests, for coming to tonight's auction," [Merchant] says sweetly. "Before we proceed to tonight's item, invitations will be handed out for you to join us in tomorrow's auction." She motions for the NPCs to do their jobs. Once the every member has their letter of invitation, an NPC gives her the signal. "The Champagne Lounge is where we shall meet. Now, without further ado, our item for the night."

[Merchant] snaps her fingers. A woman with silver fox ears comes stumbling out with a masked NPC guiding her. The woman NPC's expression is dazed as she is lead into the spotlight.

"This is the newly discovered Spade NPC," [Merchant] explains, smiling and motioning to the drugged woman. "There are very few in existence at the moment. You will be handed a list of what skills and descriptions this NPC comes with." After waiting a few minutes for the others to read their new sheets, [Merchant]'s smile turns almost predatory. "Starting price is fifty thousand lien. The auction will last for ten minutes, beginning now."

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks for reading!**

 **A very big thank you to Alexo, Chaosstripe, Clutchvm, Gabrion, Blu3 Fir3, and xXgabeXx for reviewing! I really appreciate it, and hope you all enjoyed the chapter!**

 **Have a fantastic day**


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